Intel designs processors for IIoT development
Intel has announced the release of 11th generation Intel Core processors: Intel Atom x6000E, Intel Pentium, Celeron N and J series. According to the developers, modern CPUs will open new possibilities in the development of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things.
The 11th generation processors are designed to meet the IoT requirements of high-speed data processing, computer vision, and deterministic computing with minimal latency.
The Intel Atom x6000E series includes dual-core and quad-core processors with frequency from 1.0 to 1.9 GHz, and in turbo mode, the frequency can be increased to 3.0 GHz. Pentium/Celeron CPUs based on Tiger Lake cores have similar frequencies.
The memory controller can operate with either LPDDR4x 4x32 bits, 3200 MHz, up to a maximum of 64 GB, or with DDR4 2x64 bits, up to a maximum of 64 GB. There is in-band ECC support for regular non-ECC modules. The cache size is 1 MB for the low-end model and 1.5 MB for all other models.
The new video decoding units allow the system to simultaneously receive up to 40 video streams with a resolution of 1080p and a frame rate of 30 frames per second, as well as output up to 4 channels of 4K or 2 channels of 8K video. AI algorithms can run on 96 graphics cores or on a CPU with embedded vector instructions to run a neural network.
To further improve accuracy, the new CPU series supports Intel Time Coordinated Computing (TCC) and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) technologies, which is especially important in time-critical applications.
For peripheral computing, the Intel Atom x6000E has blocks of cryptographic accelerators, and for IIoT, there is an integrated ARM Cortex-M7 microcontroller, which is responsible for the Intel Programmable Services Engine (Intel PSE). It works independently of the other blocks, providing the ability to remotely control the SoC, handle low-speed I/O from various sensors, launch real-time applications and synchronization. There are also purely hardware IT security solutions, collectively known as Intel Safety Island.
The Atom x6427FE and x6200FE models comply with IEC 61508 and ISO 13849 functional safety standards. They have passed the appropriate certification so that they can be used in such applications as: life support systems, nuclear power plant control systems or oil and gas industry.
The new CPUs support Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, Yocto Project Linux, Ubuntu, Wind River Linux LTS and Android 10 (64-bit only). Tiger Lake also claims compatibility with Wind River VxWorks.
It is expected that the new models will find application in AI and IIoT real-time control systems, industrial robot control, and various industrial areas.
